Pope Meets Palestinian Leader

posted on: Oct 9, 2009

Pope Benedict XVI has met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the Vatican.

Benedict greeted Abbas in the Apostolic Palace, and the two spoke for 15 minutes in private.

As they sat down at the pope’s desk, the pontiff asked Mr Abbas about his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on September 22.

President Barack Obama hosted the two leaders at a New York hotel on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in a bid to prod them to restart peace talks.

During Thursday’s meeting, Mr Abbas presented Benedict with a tiled scene of Old Jerusalem with the words “Jerusalem, capital of Arab culture” written in Arabic and English.

The Press Association